04/22/2026
On Monday April 20th 2026 our department did a joint rescue training with Federalsburg VFC using Airbags and cribbing to lift a tractor trailer off of a vehicle as well as vehicle stabilizing. Thank you Federalsburg VFC for accepting our invite and sharing your knowledge and thoughts with us and accepting our knowledge and thoughts as well. This training started w/ a simulated passenger car underneath a grain trailer. Crews utilized cribbing (fire department terminology for pieces of 2x4", 4x4", or 6x6" wood) and rescue air bags to lift the trailer off the passenger car. Rescue air bags are devices of reinforced rubber, normally found to be flat and square, that when filled with air have the ability to lift a massive amount of weight, sometimes upwards of 70, 80, or 90 Tons. Lifting the trailer often gives crews just enough room to rescue/remove the occupant which could be trapped in the passenger car. Once the trailer was lifted, additional stabilization was achieved by placing rescue struts under the trailer in the area of where the lifting was being conducted. Additionally, crews practiced utilizing a fire apparatus mounted winch to pull the vehicle out from under the trailer if this is required. Motor vehicle crashses and rescues are a large part of what our crews respond to. And with a heavy presence of commercial vehicles in our response areas, constant training on vehicle rescue operations allows crews the opportunity to practice on many different scenarios and be prepared for a wide range of rescue possibilities.
